True disciples repent of wrongdoing
I recently saw an article that said, “About 70 percent of marriages start with cohabitation.” That is, the man and woman live together and presumably have sexual relations before they get married.
Compare that statistic with a Pew Research Center study in 2022 which said 64 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christian.
That suggests a large percentage of people who call themselves Christian are living together and having sexual relations before marriage. In other words, they are not following biblical teaching about sexual morality. Or to put it bluntly, they are living in sin.
Still, are they Christians? Are they true disciples of Jesus? Are they on their way to heaven?
Chiseled in stone
Second Timothy 2:19 says, “God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.’”
In this verse the apostle Paul envisions a large public building with words chiseled into a stone in the foundation. There are two mottos or certainties chiseled into the stones. One is, “The Lord knows those who are his.” We humans cannot identify with certainty who the real Christians are. People can fool us. Someone can attend church services every week and talk about the Bible and pray much, but in the end be shown to have lived a double life. We can even fool ourselves.
But God knows who the true Christians are. All along he sees through the deception and duplicity. He knows the heart.
The second truth chiseled into the foundation stone of God’s building is, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” In other words, true Christians must repent of ongoing iniquity. There may be a struggle, but the true Christian must fight against temptation and eventually prevail over sinful habits.
The implication of these two sayings being chiseled into the same building is that the person who calls himself a Christian but indulges iniquity is someone that God knows is not a true Christian. The Lord knows those who are his, and those who complacently practice iniquity are not among them.
Where else do we see this idea?
Does that interpretation agree with the teaching of the rest of the New Testament? Consider these words of Jesus:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21–23)
Moreover, note these words from the apostle Paul, the champion of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19–21 ESV) Those who do “not inherit the kingdom of God” are not saved; they do not end up in heaven.
In another letter Paul writes: “You may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 5:5–6 ESV)
Self-deception and morality
Let’s turn to another significant New Testament writer, the apostle John. He says:
“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:4–9 ESV)
Elsewhere, in Revelation, John writes: “As for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (21:8, ESV)
What we claim versus what we do
Finally, consider 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, where the apostle Paul writes: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (ESV)
Therefore, no matter what people claim about their belief in Jesus, if they are complacently practicing evil, they are not true disciples of Jesus, and as far as we can know they are not a true Christian. Of course, God is the final judge on the human soul, but according to what the Bible says we can assume they are not true Christians.
No one is perfect
Still, we must recognize that all true disciples are in the process of sanctification. None of us is yet perfect. No one will display all the marks of a true disciple at all times and in every situation. True disciples do fail. We have our ups and downs. This is especially true of new believers and young believers.
However, this is crucial: when true disciples do fail and become aware of it, they confess it to God, and they repent sincerely, as King David did when confronted by the prophet Nathan regarding his sins with Bathsheba (See 2 Samuel 11:1-12:25 and Psalm 51). They do not live contentedly as a false Christian—lacking the marks of a true disciple.
That is the difference between a true disciple and a false Christian. False Christians are not troubled by their sins, they have no intention of becoming a true disciple, they do not confess their sins or sincerely repent of them before God, and they do not pray earnestly for God to help them be true disciples in the areas where they are lacking. They take God’s forgiveness for granted and contentedly sin and live in a spiritually lukewarm condition.
Therefore, I conclude with this exhortation from Jesus:
“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:24 ESV)